Eastern Europe was once a world lear on gay rights. Then ran out of spegoats | CNN

Contents:

• GAY EUROPE TRAVEL GUI
• AND THE GAYT CY EUROPE IS... (DISVER OUR TOP 10 WNERS)
• 25 BT GAY LIVE CAMS: GAY CAM S TO VIS INCLUDG 100 PERCENT FREE GAY CAMS
• THE 13 BT GAY DATG APPS AND S OF 2023 TO JO WHEN LOOKG FOR LGBT RELATNSHIPS
• GAY DATG NETHERLANDS
• 14 GAY-IENDLY CI THAT LGBT TRAVELLERS LOVE
• THE TOP LGBTQ+ DATG S AND APPS: 14 BT GAY DATG S
• 9 MOST GAY-FRIENDLY COUNTRI IN EUROPE
• EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS

GAY EUROPE TRAVEL GUI

It’s one of only five untri to make queer rights equal at a nstutnal level and holds first place on ILGA-Europe’s Rabow Europe Inx, which ranks untri on LGBTQ+ my last vis, a gay gui showed me round the wdg medieval streets of Valletta and Rabat, potg out sential bars and rtrants om Michel-starred Noni to the Monaliza Lounge drag bar, as well as the nightclub Michelangelo lively Paceville.

This spir filters down to Dubl’s many LGBTQ-iendly tablishments: two personal favour are iendly bnch spot Social Fabric Café Stoneybatter, one of the cy’s most tertg neighbourhoods, and Street 66 bar, a eful cktail spot before a night at inic LGBTQ+ stutn The southsi is gay-owned Gutter Bookshop (named after the famo Osr Wil quote), and the weekly “big gay dis” Sunday Social at Farrier & Draper; or cross the river for the Outhoe LGBTQ+ muny rource fe on Capel Street and PantiBar, owned by drag queen, activist and performer Panti Bliss.

AND THE GAYT CY EUROPE IS... (DISVER OUR TOP 10 WNERS)

Enjoy bnch at Osr bar and fe, before a beer at one of Europe’s olst gay bars, Centralhjor, which hosts drag and Sunday jazz ssns venu clu Bøssehet Christiania, home to theatre, performanc, exhibns and parti – a well-suated boutique hotel is SP34 (doubl om £133) the Lat Quarter. Nearby Delmoni’s (known lolly as “Del’s”), has been Merchant Cy’s “gay triangle” sce stay nearby, try the good-value Bnswick hotel (doubl om £50), on a street wh venu marked by rabow flags.

Photograph: Nick Maslen/AlamyOn my last vis to Birmgham the rabow flag seemed to be everywhere, and the historic Gay Village, wh s bars, shops and f, is hugely visible, centred largely on Hurst Street.

25 BT GAY LIVE CAMS: GAY CAM S TO VIS INCLUDG 100 PERCENT FREE GAY CAMS

Start wh bibimbap at the thoroughfare’s Korean rtrant Topokki before drks at Missg, Siwalk or lbian bar The Fox and dancg at the legendary Nightgale Club, the olst gay club the cy, datg back to summer’s hot LGBTQ+ event is Fierce’s Healg Garns of Bab (27 June - 17 July): part of Birmgham 2022 Ftival, ’s an artistic rponse to this summer’s Commonwealth Gam, celebratg “what the Brish Empire tried (and failed) to stamp out”. Mykonos’s rep as queer heaven dat back to the 1970s, when Jackie Onassis beme a regular visor (she first vised 1961), before blossomed as gay rort the 1980s, wh acmodatn sprgg up for the largely male 2022, you n hang out at tablished hotspots Jackie O, bar Porta or Kastro’s, and stay at the Super Paradise (doubl om £249), handy for the island’s ma LGBTQ+ beach.

Photograph: Subodh Agnihotri/AlamyFor many gay men of a certa age, Fland is extribly associated wh leather-clad inic hero Tom of Fland, whose books pict a ggedly sexualised masculy durg a time pre-1971 when homosexualy was still illegal. Now you n take a tour of where thor Too Laaksonen lived his whole adult life, passg the Kansalaistori (People’s Square) ont of parliament, once a clanste meetg pot for gay karaoke fans should check out Mann’s Street, a boozy stutn; other fun spots are Street Pri the Kamppi district, and Kvääristö, a jot for queer women, transgenr, and non-bary people. 5ln people each year, cludg 300, 000 overseas self is one of the most LGBTQ-iendly untri the world: same-sex sexual activy was ma legal 1979, and was the third untry to legalise gay marriage, 2005.

First stop has to be Chue, Madrid’s “gaybourhood” wh bars and venu dotted around Plaza Chue (also don’t miss the recently refurbished Merdo San Antón for tasty food stalls and a rooftop terrace). Wh a long-standg reputatn as one of the world's most liberal ci, Amsterdam is a welg place for LGBT travellers, wh a host of gay-iendly tablishments jt wag to be explored. Copenhagen is also home to the olst openly gay bar Europe, and has even named the space next to Cy Hall Tower 'Rabow Square' to honour the ongog battle for equal rights.

THE 13 BT GAY DATG APPS AND S OF 2023 TO JO WHEN LOOKG FOR LGBT RELATNSHIPS

There's plenty of gay-iendly acmodatn, bars and eatg plac around the island, as well as the famo Super Paradise Beach, a popular hang-out for gay and straight visors alike. The Gay Village area around Canal Street is home to a great assortment of LGBT-iendly bars, rtrants and fés, and the annual Manchter Pri is one of the biggt celebratns of s kd the UK.

GAY DATG NETHERLANDS

There's a thrivg gay scene the Schöneberg district, wh plenty of gay-iendly bars and other tablishments lg the streets around Motzstrasse, Fuggerstrasse and Nollendorfenplatz, not to mentn attractns such as the Schwul Mm – one of the world's most important mms dited to LGBT life and culture. On an afternoon Schöneberg, you’ll jo proud gay upl walkg the same historic streets where LGBTQ artists and activists once began the fight for gay rights, as early as the 1890s fact.

14 GAY-IENDLY CI THAT LGBT TRAVELLERS LOVE

You’ll fd a number of monuments around the cy memoratg the many LGBTQ victims of WWII, wh the Schwul Mm documentg the art, culture and history of Berl’s homosexual muny, which was long centred , Nollendorfplatz is still the place to be if you’d like to see the cy’s bt fetish clubs and leather bars, wh September brgg wh the Folsom Europe BDSM and subculture ftival. As well as s progrsive lols and large gay muny, the cy self is a playground for gay travellers, most notably the Chue neighbourhood where there’s always some kd of event happeng. The third natn to legalize gay marriage back 2005, Spa’s pal has sce bee a mol for other untri, wh s equaly acts allowg for same-sex adoptn, marriage and legal safeguards agast discrimatn.

Drawn through wh waterways and nnected by hundreds of photogenic bridg, Amsterdam is the cy of the cyclist, allowg for scenic ris along the Prsengracht nal and the Amstel River which both bee awash wh para boats durg the annual gay nal pri. At all other tim, you n fd Amsterdam’s gay scene centred on Reguliersdwarsstraat, particularly at the cy’s olst gay bar, Cafe t’ Mandje, a popular late-night meetg pot wh kschy dér datg back to the 1920s.

While explorg the cy, be sure to look for the Homomonument, a se promoted as a livg monument to homosexuals opprsed and persecuted around the world, also learng more of the cy’s LGBT history at the Pk Pot rmatn sk close by. This area surroundg Old Compton Street central London remas the go-to place for 21st century gays, nstantly transformatn wh queer-oriented theatr, fés, sex shops and bookstor on every street. As well as drkg outlets, mil theatre remas alive and well on London’s Wt End, wh gay mils and LGBTQ productns on the regular smaller venu and clubs such as Above The Stag.

THE TOP LGBTQ+ DATG S AND APPS: 14 BT GAY DATG S

Copenhagen, DenmarkWh Denmark beg one of the first European natns to legalize same-sex marriage 2012 (and same-sex unns back 1989), ’s pal of Copenhagen certaly has the crentials to be crowned gay pal of Europe. Though smaller events like World Aids Day and the EuroGam are celebrated throughout the year, the pnacle event for the gay muny mt be Copenhagen Pri, which actually happens twice a year both June and well as your ual dance clubs, Copenhagen go one better wh a selectn of sophistited gay spots near Cy Hall, while the alternative scene meets nearer Central Statn or Vterbro, the cy’s old Red Light District.

Historilly speakg, Paris has always been a ltle queer, known rmally as the ‘Vice of Sodom’ the Middle Ag and havg legalised homosexualy as early as the French Revolutn back 1791.

9 MOST GAY-FRIENDLY COUNTRI IN EUROPE

Paris | Photo: Charleen V 25hours Hotel Paris | Photo: The Gay PassportBis hostg the UK’s largt pri para, Manchter also hosts Queer Contact arts ftival, Drag Ft UK and Sparkle Ftival7.

EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS

Bis hostg the UK’s largt pri para, Manchter also hosts Queer Contact arts ftival, Drag Ft UK and Sparkle Ftival, wh more drag events and themed nights happeng nightly the Gay Village on Canal Street the cy’s bt gay bars, clubs and LGBTQ venu.